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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26054080">King of Pain</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lightshade/pseuds/Lightshade'>Lightshade</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Cobra and The Elephant [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>To Belong</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Animal Transformation, Assassination, Cannibalism, Gen, OCs - Freeform, PTSD, Poisoning, Vore, War</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 10:28:17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,315</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26054080</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lightshade/pseuds/Lightshade</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Demus' sanity slowly starts to slip away as he's forced to make yet another assassination for the army. When he commits the ultimate taboo for those who can shift into animal form, he begins to wonder if he can ever come back from the edge.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Demus/Leif</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Cobra and The Elephant [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1265480</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>King of Pain</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>
    <span class="small">I have stood here before inside the pouring rain<br/>
With the world turning circles running 'round my brain<br/>
I guess I always thought that you could end this reign<br/>
But it's my destiny to be the king of pain<br/>
~King of Pain, The Police</span>
  </p>
</div>Some people crumbled in a way that others could see it happening from the outside. Others kept it all inside, falling to pieces in such a way that people only saw things clearly when it was usually already too late. Demus was the latter.<p>He could keep things together outwardly for the most part. Inside, he was a mess. Not even Leif knew how bad things were on the inside. Over the years, there had been a lot he’d gone through. When you were an assassin, bodies piling up was going to be a natural course of events. Demus had been prepared for that. What had gotten to him was just the toils of war. Seeing men die horrifically around him, being the one to do it himself, it had all seared itself onto his brain in a way that didn’t seem to affect Leif. He’d gone through most of the same things Demus himself had gone through, but somehow, he hadn’t been as scathed by them.</p>
<p>What was really getting to him was how easy it was to kill. It had become beyond just part of what he had to do as his job. It was becoming enjoyable. That was the worst part of it all. He was afraid he’d fallen too far into the pleasure that came with taking a life</p>
<p>He’d gone on for as long as he could, but tonight, his personal demons were ravaging his mind once again. It was the worst possible time to do it. He’d been sent to assassinate one of the main spies for their camp. The rat had turned into a double agent and was now selling secrets on both sides, making him too dangerous to be left alive.</p>
<p>He’d been told that the rodent would be at a bar in this part of town. Demus waited in the shadows across from the entrance. Right now was the worst possible moment for the storm in his mind. It felt like everything was in a state of hyperreality. Sounds were too loud and sights were too sharp. Everything was in focus, but too much so. In a state like this, it was easy just to act on instinct and the main emotions inside, forgetting everything else.</p>
<p>But there was the mission. He could focus on that.</p>
<p>He waited until the rat came out of the small entrance set into the main bigger door, a miniature version made specifically for smaller species. He weaved down the streets unsteadily. An animal of that size could easily get drunk on a small bit of alcohol, an advantage for those that liked to visit the bars often. He had only one small yellow-brown eye. It glittered in the dim light provided by the one or two streetlamps still maintained in this corner of the town.</p>
<p>Demus slithered up behind him, his scales making a slight raspy sound on the cobbled street. The rat took no notice of the small noise. It would prove to be a fatal mistake. He finally turned around, sensing something was wrong, but it was too late.</p>
<p>The rat tried to cry out in terror, but he was snatched up in Demus’ mouth before he could make more than a pitiful squeak. Demus’ voice wasn’t as clear with a furry body mostly taking up room, but the rat made out the words clear enough. “Move and you’re dead.”</p>
<p>What else could he do but go limp and pray things would turn out alright? Demus set him back down on the ground in a bizarrely gentle manner considering the circumstances. He looked up in terror at the cold, impassive face of the snake. His little limbs began to shake in terror. “Please, I’ll give—”</p>
<p>“Quiet,” Demus said. The blood was pumping into his head and his vision was hazy. What he should do was just rip him apart piece by piece. He deserved it, the little traitor. He’d like that very much, to see death right up close, and knowing it was caused by him. “You’re going to tell me exactly what I want to know. If you don’t, I’ll make your death last for hours.”</p>
<p>The rat nodded dumbly. “The commanders want to know how much information you gave the enemy on our movements, especially for the upcoming battle.”</p>
<p>“I gave them the plans for attack for the next two weeks. They know all the troop movements and where the supply lines are going to be.”  </p>
<p>“Anything else?”</p>
<p>“They know the names and forms of all the major commanders. They’ll be targeting them specifically. Please don’t do this, my wife and child are—”</p>
<p>“I told you to be quiet once. I won’t ask again.” The warning in his voice was flat and cold. He digested that. It wasn’t the worst news in the world. The commanders might even be able to use this to their advantage, planning out new movements while making it seem like they were keeping the old. He grilled the rat for several more minutes, making sure he knew exactly how much information had been given to the opposing camp. The rat told him everything. He’d report back to his commanders on everything he’d been told. But first, it was time to deal with this rodent.</p>
<p>The rat looked into the snake’s eyes and it was very apparent. He was mad. Utterly and entirely mad. Before he could beg for mercy, Demus had struck, sinking his fangs into the rat’s body, and delivering a fatal dose of venom. His systems began to shut down in short order, first control of his limbs, then his eye, and lastly the struggle for breath as his heart shut down.</p>
<p>He flopped over onto his side, each breath promising that the next was soon to be his last. But as if death wasn’t painful enough, he felt something worse. Demus was picking him up in his jaws. “<i>Oh God. No.</i> No. <i>Not this. Please, anything but this.</i>” The rat’s prayers went unanswered as he rested in the hot, damp recesses of the snake’s mouth for a moment. Then he got to feel the horrible sensation as he was swallowed down. As a small mercy, he finally succumbed to the venom before he had to feel much more of himself being eaten alive.</p>
<p>When the deed was done, Demus held himself there for a moment. It was the ultimate taboo: he’d just cannibalized another person, eaten them while they were still breathing. But somehow, he couldn’t bring himself to care. It had made him feel alive and back in reality for a moment, grounding him in the way nothing else could any longer.<br/>
There was only a sort of numbness that was quietly muffling anything he should have been feeling. His mind had fallen to pieces and he couldn’t seem to pick them back up. There was very little of himself left within. All of the emotions he wished he could get rid of were ruling him now: despair, panic, hatred, anger. The fury in him had led to this point, one where he could no longer tell what was right and what was wrong. </p>
<p>All that mattered to him anymore was death. Death and Leif. </p>
<p>His lover was the only thing keeping him anywhere close to the realm of sanity. Without him, he would have been lost completely. As it was, there was still a chance. Things could turn around. He could be whole again.</p>
<p>But not at the moment. All that mattered was the thrill he got from taking a life and then consuming them afterward. Demus truly had fallen to pieces.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>It's been a while since I posted to this series but the release of the animated crossover version finally getting an eighth and final part inspired me! I hope the twist came as a surprise and was just as disgusting and chilling as I'd hoped for. Yep, Demus has lost his mind so much that he's eating other people while they're in animal form, showing just how far off the deep end he's gotten. Will he be able to come back? Only time will tell. The next part will take a long time too, but that's because it's gonna be a tale of their early years together all the way up until they join the army. It's already a bit of a doozy, so it'll be interesting to see how long it'll take!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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